A. Hulme Nebeker's preservation during the sinking of the Arabic

Elder A. Hulme Nebeker, a missionary returning home to Utah, was a passenger on the White Star liner 'Arabic' when it was torpedoed off the Irish coast. He was in his stateroom when he felt the impact. He made his way to deck, put on a life belt, and entered a lifeboat. When the ship was about to sink, he jumped into the sea, swam clear of the wreckage, and later clung to debris for about twenty minutes before being picked up by another lifeboat and eventually rescued by the British cruiser 'Primrose'.

Acel Hulme Nebeker had served as a full-time missionary in the British Mission since June 1913, serving the final eight months as President of the Liverpool District. At the time of the sinking on August 19, 1915, there were 424 persons on board the SS Arabic. Nebeker noted that as the ship began its descent, it rose into the sky at one end, and he feared it would collapse upon him. While in the water, he witnessed the bodies of victims floating nearby, including a small child wearing a life belt. An engineer from the Arabic swam between lifeboats to reach Nebeker's group to provide leadership, whom Nebeker described as his 'saviour.' Nebeker and the other survivors were eventually taken to Queenstown, Ireland.